Current Legal News

Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.

Drue D. Birmingham of Olive Branch, Mississippi died Monday (May 26) at the age of 82. After a tour in Korea with the 1st Marine Division, he attended the University of Memphis School of Law and earned a master of laws from the University of Mississippi. Birmingham practiced in Mississippi, but was a member of the Tennessee Bar Association and a senior counselor. Funeral services were held today at 10 a.m. at Olive Branch First Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to American Center for Law and Justice. Read more about his life in the Commercial Appeal.

More than 120 friends, family and colleagues joined newly appointed Court of Appeals Judge Neal McBrayer for his formal investiture yesterday in the old Supreme Court chamber of the State Capitol. The oath of office was administered by Gov. Bill Haslam, who appointed McBrayer to fill the seat vacated by Judge Patsy Cottrell. TBA Vice-President Bill Harbison presented a gavel to McBrayer. Brentwood Homepage has more.

Pamela L. Reeves was formally installed as the newest federal district court judge in a ceremony in Knoxville today. Reeves, a former TBA president, was appointed by President Obama to fill the lifetime post. The ceremony at Knoxville's Bijou Theatre was attended by more than 800 colleagues, friends and guests. Reeves' robing was done by her spouse Charles Swanson— also a former TBA president— and adult children Reedy and Amanda Swanson.

According to a new American Lawyer survey, only 3 percent of lawyers and 1.9 percent of partners at large law firms are African American. While the percentage of all minorities increased slightly last year at the 223 law firms polled, the number of black lawyers fell to its lowest level since 2000. Asian-Americans are now the largest group of minorities in law firms, comprising 6.3 percent of the lawyers and 2.7 percent of the partners. The next largest group is Hispanics, which account for 3.2 percent of the lawyers and 2.3 percent of the partners. The ABA Journal has the story.

Kristopher Gore, a Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives, has been charged with two felonies for writing one bad check over $10,000 and another over $1,000 to a sign company. Gore, two other Democrats and a Republican are running in the Aug. 7 primaries for the open House District 43 seat. The Tennessean has more.

Memphis lawyer John Robert Hershberger was suspended on May 30 for two years, with 60 days to be served on active suspension and the remainder to be served on probation so long as he meets several conditions. Those conditions include working with a practice monitor, establishing an operating account for his law practice and undergoing an evaluation by the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. View the BPR notice.

The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved an amendment from Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, that would transfer $5 million in federal money to a grant program to help local governments reduce their backlog in testing of rape kits. The amended bill, which funds the Department of Justice, awaits final approval in the House, the Commercial Appeal reports.

Tennessee’s judicial system does not need Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s campaign to unseat three state Supreme Court justices for political reasons, an editorial in the Jackson Sun asserts. "While Ramsey is free to pursue his political interests in the legislature and with the executive branch...he has no business inserting political partisanship into the selection or retention of judges," the paper writes. “There simply is no place for politics in the judicial system. That’s why it is a separate arm of government intended to offer checks and balances. Judicial impartiality is critical to public trust in the law and the courts,” the editors conclude.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) is accepting nominations for the B. Riney Green Award and the New Advocate of the Year Award. The awards will be presented at the group's Access to Justice Dinner Sept. 10 during the Equal Justice University conference. Submit nominations to TALS Operating Director Samantha Sanchez by June 27.

A group of advocates that comprise the Middle Tennessee Veterans Mental Health Council is working to establish a Rutherford County Veterans Court, the Daily News Journal reports. The group states that many of the veterans who face misdemeanor and felony charges could use a court that tailors justice to the support and treatment they need to cope with lingering memories of war. Council Chairman Michael Cowger said many veterans return from war with post-traumatic stress syndrome, and this condition can lead to domestic violence, divorce, drug addiction, alcoholism, homelessness and suicide.

The TBA YLD Board invites specialty and minority bars in the state to name a representative to serve as an unfunded member of the board. The goal of the invited guest program is to increase diversity among the board and provide an opportunity for young lawyers involved in other legal organizations to have a voice in the state bar association. See a list of all organizations invited to send representatives.

LAW Marion Griffin Chapter – The Lawyers’ Association for Women Marion Griffin Chapter in Nashville has launched the Coalition for Fair Courts to encourage voter education and participation in the upcoming judicial retention elections. The goal of the effort is to raise public awareness about the August retention election of three Tennessee Supreme Court Justices – Cornelia Clark, Sharon Lee and Chief Justice Gary Wade – as well as the intermediate appellate court judges. The effort also hopes to educate voters about the role of the appellate courts and the importance of a fair and impartial judiciary. Current coalition members include the Tennessee Alliance of Black Lawyers, the Napier-Looby Bar Association, the League of Women Voters of Nashville and the Lawyers' Association for Women Anne Schneider Chapter in Jackson. For more information about the coalition contact Liz Sitgreaves.

American Bar Association YLD – At the ABA YLD Spring meeting in Pittsburgh last month, ABA President Jim Silkenat gave a presentation about the formation of a new initiative called "The Legal Access Job Corps," which is designed to tackle the lack of legal services available to low-income individuals while addressing the increasing number of unemployed and underemployed lawyers. Also at the meeting, incoming ABA YLD Chair Andrew Schpak announced that his service project for the 2014-2015 bar year will focus on homeless youth. Details will be rolled out at the group’s annual meeting in Boston Aug. 7-9. For general information about the ABA YLD visit the group online or contact Nashville lawyer Matt Potempa at (615) 810-8438.

The Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership at Nashville’s Lipscomb University offers a unique master degree program in civic leadership to equip emerging and mid-career professionals for service in their communities and their industries. Weekend and online classes accommodate professionals seeking a leadership degree focused on social innovation and collaboration. It is designed for busy professionals and can be completed in 15 months. The school has asked if the TBA would make information about the program available to young lawyers in the state. For more information download this one page description or contact Academic Director Michelle Cummings Steele at (615) 966-5181 or michelle.steele@lipscomb.edu.

The Tennessee Bar Association has launched a Tennessee Supreme Court Candidate Evaluation Poll, which will remain open until June 9. For the first time in its history, the TBA is polling its members for their views on the three justices facing retention votes in the August General Election. For each of the three – Chief Justice Gary Wade, Justice Cornelia Clark and Justice Sharon Lee – TBA members are being asked to select one of four options: (1) highly recommend retention, (2) recommend retention, (3) do not recommend retention or (4) do not have an informed opinion at this time. The TBA is using the SurveyMonkey platform to conduct the poll, which ensures the secrecy of votes. If you have not yet received an email to participate, please check your spam folder for an email from SurveyMonkey.com. Results will be released in mid June.

The TBA is taking this unprecedented step because it believes that lawyers are uniquely qualified to provide an informed opinion as to whether a justice should be retained, and by providing the collective view of the organized bar, it can help Tennessee voters educate themselves about the election. The poll is one part of TBA’s efforts to help ensure that the 2014 judicial elections maintain a fair, impartial and accountable judiciary. Learn more about other efforts at the TBA’s Judicial Selection Information Center.

As the bar year wraps up, the YLD is proud to announce that its signature public service project has been an amazing success. The goal of the Tennessee Library Education Project was to train at least one librarian in every county on how to use existing resources to help members of the public in need of legal information and advice. Presentations have been delivered in all but eight of the state’s 95 counties, and plans are in place to cover the last few locations in the coming weeks.

The project, an initiative of YLD President David McDowell, had volunteers visit libraries across the state to educate librarians on free legal resources such as OnlineTNJustice, which allows qualified individuals to post a legal question to a private messaging system and receive an answer from a volunteer lawyer; LIFT, a website that provides general information about a number of different legal issues as well as links to other pro bono resources; and aLEGALz, a toll-free hotline that provides legal information and referrals to low-income Tennesseans.

In cooperation with the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS), the YLD created a power point presentation and a resource page so volunteer lawyers had the information they needed to make presentations about these services. The website also offered handouts and signs that could be downloaded and left with librarians for their use. For more information about the project contact McDowell at (423) 756-5171.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hold a swearing in ceremony in Nashville next Tuesday, June 3, for new admittees to the bar. Results from the February bar exam came out last month with 194 new lawyers passing the exam. Events on Tuesday include an open house and lunch at the TBA from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for new lawyers and their families. The Swearing in Ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. at TPAC’s Polk Theater, 505 Deaderick St., Nashville 37219. YLD members will be on hand to congratulate these new lawyers and provide information about TBA membership. Please join us in welcoming these new lawyers into the legal profession!

A number of vacancies in district representative positions will be filled by the YLD Board during its summer meeting, June 14, in Gatlinburg. Pursuant to the division’s bylaws, a special nominating committee has met to consider applicants for the position and has voted to recommend the following candidates to the full YLD Board. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in these positions!

The TBA Young Lawyers Division will hold its annual membership meeting Friday, June 13, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern at the Park Vista Hotel in Gatlinburg. The hotel is located at 705 Cherokee Orchard Rd., Gatlinburg 37738. The meeting will take place in Tennessee Ballroom 3. All members of the division are invited to attend. Members will consider one contested election for District 2 Representative, hear a recap of the 2013-2014 bar year from outgoing YLD President David McDowell and hear from incoming President Stacie Winkler about her plans for the year.

Griffith Services Drilling, LLC (“Griffith”) and Lexington Insurance Company, Griffith’s insurance company, sued Arrow Gas & Oil, Inc. (“Arrow”) for property damage caused by a fire that occurred while Arrow was refueling a drilling rig operated by Griffith in Anderson County, Tennessee (“the Drilling Site”). Arrow answered the complaint and counterclaimed for breach of contract based upon Griffith’s refusal to pay for the fuel delivered by Arrow on the day of the fire. Arrow also filed a motion to dismiss for spoliation, which the Circuit Court for Anderson County (“the Trial Court”) granted dismissing Griffith’s claims against Arrow. Arrow then filed a motion for summary judgment on its counterclaim, which the Trial Court granted in part. Griffith appeals to this Court raising issues regarding the dismissal of their claims and the grant of summary judgment to Arrow. We find and hold that both Griffith and Arrow were guilty of spoliation, and, therefore, that dismissal of Griffith’s claims was not an appropriate sanction. We vacate the dismissal of Griffith’s claims against Arrow and reinstate them. Because the Trial Court granted Arrow summary judgment based upon its decision on the issue of spoliation, and we have vacated the Trial Court’s decision on the issue of spoliation, we also vacate the grant of summary judgment to Arrow.

In this premises liability action, Plaintiff/Appellant was allegedly injured when he slipped and fell on the subject property. The trial court granted a directed verdict to the Appellees, who are the property owners/occupiers. The basis for the directed verdict was that Appellant failed to submit evidence from which a reasonable juror could conclude either that the Appellees knew or should have known of a dangerous condition on the property, or that Appellees caused or created a dangerous condition on the property. Discerning no error, we affirm.